Mentoring Within A Graduate School Setting

College Student Journal, March, 1999 by Shalonda Kelly, John H. Schweitzer

Relationship Between Having a Mentor and Direct Benefits Received by Graduate Students

One-way ANOVAs revealed that graduate students who had either a student or faculty mentor received better grades F(2, 576) = 6.13, p [is less than] .005, and were more likely to receive fellowships, scholarships and grants F(2, 629) = 3.44, p [is less than] .05, as compared to those who had both or neither. Yet the number of financial sources used by graduate students to support their education did not differ according to whether or not they had mentors. Further, a lack of significant interactions with the students' mentor status showed that these relationships did not vary significantly according to the students' race/ethnicity or gender.

Discussion

Graduate Students Who Are More Likely to Have or Be a Mentor

Contrary to predictions, minorities and women reported no differences in the amount of mentoring that they received. However, congruent with expectations, the

Relationship Between Having a Mentor and Direct Benefits Received by Graduate Students

One-way ANOVAs revealed that graduate students who had either a student or faculty mentor received better grades F(2, 576) = 6.13, p [is less than] .005, and were more likely to receive fellowships, scholarships and grants F(2, 629) = 3.44, p [is less than] .05, as compared to those who had both or neither. Yet the number of financial sources used by graduate students to support their education did not differ according to whether or not they had mentors. Further, a lack of significant interactions with the students' mentor status showed that these relationships did not vary significantly according to the students' race/ethnicity or gender.

Discussion

Graduate Students Who Are More Likely to Have or Be a Mentor

Contrary to predictions, minorities and women reported no differences in the amount of mentoring that they received. However, congruent with expectations, the results revealed that international graduate students received less mentoring than did Caucasian or minority graduate students. Thus, it appears that positive changes in the amount of support received may be occurring for African American and women graduate students, but not for international students.

The study revealed that Ph.D. and professional students received more mentoring than did master's level students, and students with the lowest GPAs received less mentoring than those with higher GPAs. Further, graduate students in the physical sciences received more mentoring than students from other disciplines. Perhaps students with lower GPAs are seen as having less potential, and therefore they may not receive the mentoring opportunities that those with higher GPAs receive. It is also likely that Students working on the most advanced degrees and those in the physical sciences may be in graduate school the longest, and may have more technical knowledge to learn. In addition, graduate students in the physical sciences often work in a faculty member's laboratory, and this type of training may make it structurally easier for these graduate students to receive mentoring. The above differences may result in more mentoring for those seeking the most advanced degrees, those with higher GPAs, and those in the physical sciences.